


Heart of the Champion

by the_mutated_knight



Category: Dragon Age II
Genre: other tags will be added when necessary
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 20:58:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7404289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_mutated_knight/pseuds/the_mutated_knight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Garrett Hawke didn't know what the hell was going to happen after he spoke to that Dalish elf outside the tavern. He didn't know he'd been speaking to the future Hero of Ferelden, and he didn't know what would soon follow his departure. No one did, really, but somehow the blame landed on his shoulders. Or at least they did in Garrett's eyes. </p><p>To be honest, everything that happened after he decided to stand outside the tavern was something no one had expected. The darkspawn invading, everyone who used to be so kind to one another shoving past each other trying to get to freedom, not able to care any less if the person they just pushed died... </p><p>But all of it lands the Hawkes in Kirkwall, and everything changed after that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heart of the Champion

They had to flee as fast as they could. 

 

Garrett had grabbed their coin and shoved it in the small bag on his belt knowing that was the most important thing in the house. Then he rushed around grabbing whatever he could fit into his backpack. He grabbed food that he knew would last a while, and was about to grab some canteens to fill with water when he saw Carver already taking care of it. He looked for Bethany, only to find her grabbing all of their clothes and shoving them into her backpack. Always thinking ahead. His mother, he saw, was trying to grab what little valuables they had; probably to sell them from money when they were in a safer place. Garrett ran upstairs to the room he shared with his siblings in their small house, grabbing things he knew they would want. Extra clothes that Bethany had forgotten or dropped in her haste, things they hadn't been able to sell because of sentimental value...

 

He looked at the corner of the room. A staff was leaned against the wall; his father's. He'd never touched it. His heart began to pound in his chest moreso than it had been, and he had to push back memories. He didn't want to touch it, never had wanted to. It reminded him of things he wished he could forget, but plagued him nonstop. But thinking about what would happen to Lothering once it was gone...

 

He grabbed it. Even though he couldn't use it, he wanted to have it. He also shoved Bethany's favorite necklace, a simple silver chain, with a blue crystal hanging off of it, given to her by none other than their father, into his bag, and grabbed Carvers first sword. No surprise that this sword had also been from their father. It was small and very light, practically made for the 10 year old Carver Hawke who had recieved it in the past. 

 

Oh, and his red face paint. He'd never forget that. If he did, then the world was _truly_ ending.

 

He ran back down the stairs, and immediately grabbed his daggers off their sheaths on his back. He slashed the throat of a genlock, letting it fall limply onto their kitchen floor. He heard his mother scream as she turned and saw as Garrett flipped, using his feet to smack the head of a hurlock into the ground, letting the skull of the blighted creature shatter under his weight when he landed on two feet. 

 

"We need to leave now," Carver said, and Garrett was sure he would be the only one to hear the pure fear in his voice. 

 

"Do we have everything we need?" Garrett asked, addressing his whole family as he stood guard by the door. He would have cringed at the sound of screams and crackling fires outside if he wasn't trying his best to hold it together in front of his family. 

 

Bethany nodded, saying, "I grabbed as much as I could. I don't think there's anything more for us to take."

 

"Even if there was more we could take, brother, we shouldn't. The darkspawn are closing in on Lothering and if we wait another second here, they'll burn our house, and we'll die in here either to them or the flames," Carver practically hissed, eager to leave.

 

"Oh, Carver, no!" Leandra exclaimed, panic and sadness coating her words "Don't even say such a thing! We'll make it, I swear!" 

 

"It will be fine, Mother," Bethany said, voice soft and assured as he put a hand on her mother's shoulder as the older woman cried. 

 

"I hate to admit it, but Carver is right," Garrett pointed out, looking outside at the chaos, "We can't wait any longer."

 

"I... I suppose you're right..." Leandra said, wiping stray tears away, "Lead the way, son."

 

With that Garrett twirled his daggers in his hands and ran out the door. When Bethany came close to him, he quickly held their father's staff out to her. She took it into her hands and smiled solemnly to him, holding it tightly in her hands. He also gave Carver his sword, when he shoved past him. His younger brother barely registered it was being handed to him, but he took it and tucked it into his belt regardless. Then... well, what else did they have to do but run? 

 

They ran through the streets, trying to avoid as many darkspawn as possible. They tried to keep a pace their mother could keep up with, but it took a toll on how quickly they'd manage to escape. Especially since halfway out of the town, Leandra gasped and tried to turn back.

 

Carver and Bethany had grabbed her arms, but she refused to turn away as she said, "Malcolm's favor was in the laundry basket! Oh, Maker, I can't lose that! Not now!" 

 

Garrett stopped when he heard that. His favor... the one his mother had gotten from Malcolm. A Hawke family tradition, she had told him when he was a young boy, to give the person you loved something to signify your undying affection for them. It had been something Leandra hadn't put down since their father had died. The red cloth was always tied around her wrist, scarcely washed. She must have just washed it that day, a rare occasion, to have it still be in the laundry basket. 

 

"I'm so sorry, Mother, I must not have grabbed it," Bethany said, slight panic in her voice as she tried desperately to find it in her bags of clothes to try and find it. 

 

"I'll get it," Garrett said, "Bethany, Carver, take mother out of the city. Go into the woods, to that lake Father would take us to. I'll meet you there."

 

"No," Leandra protested, grabbing his arm, but Garrett simply pulled his arm from her grip and ran. 

 

No way he was leaving something like that behind, not when disaster was striking and his mother needed what had been so special to her for so many years. 

 

Garrett pushed through other running refugees, not looking back to make sure Carver and Bethany were doing as told. It didn't take him too long to reach the house once more, although he saw flames beginning to rise from the side of the building. That made him panic a bit, but he ran back inside anyways. Where did Mother always leave the laundry basket...? 

 

He whipped around and looked to their wardrobe next to the front door, the one they kept all their coats and such in. He saw the flames closing in on it, and that only made him more panicked. He grabbed the handle and threw the door open, seeing the basket slightly singeing from the sparks that had managed to get through the hinges on the door. He tossed every towel aside, looking for that simple, long, bright red piece of silk that was Malcolm's favor. He almost didn't find it, but when he did, he'd never been so happy to see the favor in his life. He couldn't help but sigh in relief and hug it to his chest a moment before coughing as he breathed in a bit of smoke. He'd almost forgotten about the fact his house was in flames. He scrambled to his feet and tucked the favor into his pocket. 

 

He was about to run out the door when he almost ran right into a hurlock. The creature yelled in his face, and was about to strike when he ran a dagger through his chest. When he pushed it away from him, he decapitated it. He took a moment to gag and the vile blackness of the blood coating his weapons before he ran out the door, and joined the hoard of fleeing refugees that still had yet to escape. Thankfully they were there, although being chased by darkspawn. If he stayed with them, he had a good chance of getting to safety. 

 

The rogue looked around until he found the forest through the heads of group he was in, then shoved his way through as quickly as possible. When he broke from the group, he could hear darkspawn screaming, as if to tell each other he was running another way. It wasn't too long until he could obviously tell he was being followed, and he sighed. 

 

"Why do _I_ always get all of the attention?" Garrett asked himself softly, rolling his eyes a bit.

 

He flicked open the top of one of the many bags on his belt and pulled out a... a stealth bomb. Sure, he'll call it that. He waited until he got into the thick of the trees in the forest to hide behind a large tree. Then he threw the bomb onto the ground and let the dust rise. In mere seconds he was completely invisible, and the dust dispersed. He continued his run through the forest, but looked behind him to find the darkspawn looking around for him in confusion. He laughed under his breath, smiling with pride. 

 

Once far enough in the forest, he looked for the familiar path, which thankfully wasn't too hard to find. He took it to the lake, and thank the Maker his family was still there. He let the invisibility wear off then, running to join them. His mother was overcome by joy, gasping loudly and running to hug him. 

 

"Thank the Maker you're alright!" She said, holding him tightly as her son returned the hug. 

 

"I'm clever enough to outrun a couple of mindless beasts, mother," Garrett pointed out, chuckling softly, "Plus, I'm a grown man. I can handle myself well enough."

 

"Oh, I know, dear. But you worry me when you do something so dangerously reckless."

 

"You would have done it yourself if I hadn't, and you know it."

 

Leandra nodded, moving away from him and moving out of the way as Bethany ran up to him and embraced him. 

 

Garrett returned the hug as his mother asked, "Did you find it?"

 

Bethany stood at Garrett's side as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the (thankfully undamaged) favor, holding it out to Leandra. 

 

She teared up as she took it from him, thanking him profusely as she hugged him yet again. Garrett couldn't help but smile a bit, because he knew this must have meant a lot to his mother. 

 

"Great, now lets go. Who knows when the darkspawn will catch up with us," Carver huffed, crossing his arms and gesturing out of the forest, "We can reach the mountains and find a cave or something to spend the night in if we're lucky enough. If not, then the terrain will be rough enough that the darkspawn won't be able to reach us easily."

 

"But don't the darkspawn come out of the caves, Carver? What if they find us in the night?" Bethany asked, frowning.

 

"We'll have to take our chances. It's better than being more exposed out in the open."

 

"We'll haves watches throughout the night," Garrett suggested, "Carver can take first watch, I'll take second, and Bethany can take third."

 

"Good idea," Leandra said, "Now lets go, I can't be rid of the darkspawn quick enough."

 

With that, the family left the lake side and headed towards the mountains as Carver had suggested, leaving Lothering to burn and be swallowed by the Blight behind them.


End file.
